


they want to make you forget

by mindspiil



Category: Twenty One Pilots
Genre: Alternate Universe - Trench (Album), Based on a Twenty One Pilots Song, Depression, References to Depression, Trench Era
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-07
Updated: 2018-10-07
Packaged: 2019-07-27 14:32:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,992
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16221068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mindspiil/pseuds/mindspiil
Summary: "There has to be more to life than this," Tyler thought. "I need to get out of here."





	they want to make you forget

The artificial glow of the neon white lamps in the centre of the room greeted Tyler as soon as he opened his eyes. He shifted in the narrow bed and saw the familiar grey clouds and building walls outside the foggy window. He sat up and rested his head in his hands, letting out a shaky breath that turned into mist. The air was cold, matching the atmosphere of his grey room with only a dresser and a clock on top of it.

 

Tyler stayed there for a while, staring at the lamps. He wondered if he was the only one that noticed the lack of life and heat in them.

His head shot up when he heard a knock on the door. "It's Lucas."

 

Lucas was the closest thing Tyler had to a friend. They had known each other for as long as Tyler could remember. That was the case with the majority of people in his district.

 

"Come in."

 

Lucas walked into his room and pushed his blonde messy hair out of his face. "You ready?"

 

_No_ , Tyler thought. "Yeah. Let's go."

 

A lot of people were already up and walking through the hallway. Lucas greeted and shook hands with some while Tyler awkwardly stood next to him. The people in their district were used to Tyler being the quieter one out of the two.

Tyler and Lucas walked to the great hall and stood in the queue. Before the start of each day, people from all nine districts would gather in the great hall. Everyone would get a lists of tasks they need to get done by the end of the day. Then, they would go over them with the nine leaders. The leaders created this system so that the city could function.

But something seemed off for Tyler. Each morning, he would get the same list. He'd be lucky if one task was different. The tasks weren't engaging or interesting, they were designed to make the city survive with as little effort as possible. But Tyler wanted more.

One night years ago, he couldn't sleep so he was looking out of his window. Suddenly, a few people with torches were walking around the courtyard. They were looking for something. Tyler froze. All he could do is look at the sparkles of the torches. Another guy walked out of one of the buildings around the courtyard. He joined them and they all left. Tyler never saw that guy again.

Over time, he managed to quiet down the desire to see the fire of the torches again. But recently, he couldn't help but notice how that was the most exciting thing he ever saw in his life. Everything here was monotone. He'd get out of bed on his worst days only because he was hoping to see the fire again.

Over the years, he heard tales about them. People talked about the groups of people with torches that came from beyond the walls of their city. They talked about them with disguist and fear, but all Tyler felt was the undescribable urge to get out of the walls himself and find them.

He finally reached the front of the queue and the woman at the desk handed him his list. Lucas gently pulled him by his sleeve and they found their seats near the front of the great hall.

 

Some time passed and the lamps above the stage lit up. Everyone stopped talking and calmed down in their chairs, waiting for the leaders to come out.

There he was. The person who placed fear deep into Tyler's mind.

Nico had the most authority in the organization of the city, so he was in front of the stage. The other eight leaders lined up behind him.

Nico adjusted his long red robe and cleared his throat. "Hello, everyone. I made some adjustments to your schedules and added some tasks. We need to get some extra things done today, but I doubt there will be any problems. I hope you adjust quickly, this is for your wellbeing after all."

_ This is for your wellbeing after all.  _ Tyler heard something along those lines numerous times. It was a motto of their city in a way. Everyone firmly believed that the leaders kept them safe from the outside world. But no one ever wondered what exactly was so dangerous. If the outside meant the torches, Tyler was willing to do anything to find them again.

Tyler glanced at Lucas. He was so focused on listening to Nico's words. It was terrifying in a way, to look around a room full of people fixated on the leaders. Tyler didn't understand why he saw them in a different way than Lucas.

The meeting was finally over. Just as Tyler stood up, Nico looked at him. Tyler's heart skipped a beat. Nico turned around and walked away.

During Tyler's teenage years, Nico was always nice to him. He gave him advice on how to accomplish his tasks and blend into the routine. He gave Tyler a sense of familiarity and Tyler liked having that to rely on. But after he saw the torches, Nico's attitude changed. His remarks became more fierce. The friendly conversations turned into monitoring. The familiarity twisted into an overwhelming and uncomfortable numbness that would became stronger every time Nico told him what to do. On extremely exhausting days the numbness would make him flop down on his bed as soon as he was done for the day. It would crawl into every crevice of his room.

The day went on and in the afternoon, Tyler and Lucas went to harvest the crops.

"We didn't do this in a while. I wonder who's with us today."

"Yeah." Tyler definitely wasn't interested. Walking to the part of the city where the crops were was unsettling. The weather was bleak as always, but it was more noticeable without buildings around them.

"Why aren't you talking to me? Did I do something wrong?"

Tyler looked at Lucas. He didn't know what to feel anymore. Lucas was a big part of his life. He was the only one who he felt comfortable with. But even Lucas didn't know about the torches. Tyler never dared to say anything about it in case Lucas turned his back on him.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Tyler took a deep breath. "I, I don't. I don't know how to explain it, but something feels wrong about this place."

Lucas frowned. "What?"

Tyler could already feel the regret, but there was no going back now. "Don't you ever wonder what's outside?" He gestured to the tall walls in the distance. "Why can't we see it?"

Lucas let out a nervous laugh. "You'd like to see what's outside? Are you crazy? Why would you want to put your life at risk?"

"I don't know. It just seems suspitious that they never told us what exactly we should watch out for."

"We have a roof over our heads here. Nico is helping us to live."

"It doesn't sound like a good life to me." Tyler mumbled and Lucas stopped walking.

 

"Wait, what?" Tyler noticed the pure confusion on his face. "You don't like living here?"

Tyler let out a sigh. "How do you trust him? Everyone here is putting their trust into someone who never even told us what's truly going on, or why we're here. Do you remember how you got here?"

Lucas took a step back. "No, I don't. But no one does, Tyler, why would we-"

"Doesn't that freak you out? Your earlier memory is probably quite similar to what you do every day. You wake up, go to the hall, get tasks and execute them. All day, every day. What's the point?!"

"Tyler, you're thinking too much." Lucas shook his head and continued walking.

Tyler clenched his fists. "What is that supposed to mean?" He said, his voice cracking half way through.

"You need to stop being ridiculous. Nico knows what he's doing. You used to love him, I don't understand why you're suddenly acting up."

"Okay, you're right, I did. But then I got some common sense and started to question what's actually happening here. I don't understand how no one else is doing that."

A few passerbys gave them strange looks so Lucas pulled Tyler over to the side of the path. "Stop shouting! People will think you're insane. And I think you're just underestimating Nico. He never did anything bad to you. Why are you against him?"

Tyler ripped his hand out of Lucas' grip and looked at him. "I thought I could trust you with this." He suddenly felt so small.

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you I support your idea when it's just wrong."

Tyler crossed his arms over his chest. "Wrong, huh? So you're saying that what I've been feeling for years now just isn't real? Cause that's so, so scary. The thought that I'm just making this whole thing up. But then I get back to my room in the evening and the numbness is pouring out of every corner. He makes me feel like that, Lucas. One day, I just realized how disgusting this "comfort zone" is. It's overwhelming. Once you notice it, you can't unsee it. And every time I have to sit in that hall and listen to him speak, the urge to leave this place grows."

"You're scaring me, Tyler."

"Fine. I'll get out of your way then." Tyler turned around and quickly walked down the path, trying his best not to scream.

 

He could feel his pulse in his ears. His fast walking quickly turned into running. When he reached his room, he shut the door and sat down on his bed. He put his arms around his knees and desperately tried to keep his breathing steady.

He didn't even know he fell asleep until hours later, when the outside was pitch black. He rubbed his eyes in an attempt to stay awake. He leaned against the wall behind his bed and tugged a loose string of his shirt.

A knock. Tyler frowned. Lucas? Maybe he stopped by earlier and Tyler didn't hear him. "Yeah?", he said with caution. When the door opened the first thing that caught his eye was carnation red.

"It's been a while since we talked, don't you think?" Nico said as he was closing the door. "I saw you didn't complete a task today. How so?"

Tyler dug his nails into his palms. He stumbled over trying to find the courage to say something. "I- I'm sorry. I felt sick so I got back because I wouldn't be very, uh, useful."

"You didn't seem sick at the meeting. And a friend of yours told me a different story." Tyler gulped.

"I know you're afraid of me. Do you really think I wouldn't notice?" Nico walked over and stood in front of the bed.

Tyler lowered his head, but Nico snapped his fingers and Tyler looked at him.

"Listen carefully. You're becoming a problem, Tyler. And you don't what to know what I'm capable of. You need me, and you'll do as you're told."

Tears began to fall down Tyler's face. He let out a quiet "No."

Nico laughed. "Sure, if you want to suffer, go ahead. I'm just telling you the truth. You're nothing without me. I'm sure you'll realize that soon."

He turned around and walked out, shutting the door behind him and leaving Tyler in tears.

 

Tyler waited for a few minutes, then wiped his face with his hands. He got up and rumbled through his dresser to find an old backpack. He looked out of the window and remembered the feeling of seeing the flames. The light from the lamps in the middle of his room was meaningless compared to that.

 

He won't let this place control him. All he has to do is find the torches.

**Author's Note:**

> i'm working on expanding this fic into a chaptered one! i'll hopefully finish it soon


End file.
